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Texarkana metropolitan area

Texarkana, United States
City
Texarkana Post Office, located in two states.
Texarkana Post Office, located in two states.
Nickname(s): The Town That Dreaded Sundown
Motto: Twice as Nice
Coordinates: 33°26′14″N 94°4′3″W / 33.43722°N 94.06750°W / 33.43722; -94.06750Coordinates: 33°26′14″N 94°4′3″W / 33.43722°N 94.06750°W / 33.43722; -94.06750
Country United States
State Arkansas & Texas
County Miller County, AR
Bowie County, TX
Government
 • AR Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell.
 • TX Mayor Bob Bruggeman.
Elevation 299 ft (91 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 143,486
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes (AR) 71854
(TX) 75500-75599
Area code(s) (AR) 870
(TX) 430 & 903
FIPS code 48-72368
GNIS feature ID 1369752
Website Texarkana MSA

The Texarkana, AR–Texarkana, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is a two-county region anchored by the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas, and encompassing the surrounding communities in Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 143,486. Texarkana is a subset of the broader Ark-La-Tex region.

Texarkana was founded in 1873 on the junction of two railroads. The name is a portmanteau of TEXas, ARKansas, and nearby LouisiANA. One tradition tells of a Red River steamboat named The Texarkana, c. 1860. Another story mentions a storekeeper named Swindle in Red Land, Louisiana who concocted a drink called "Texarkana Bitters". A third account states that Col. Gus Knobel, a railroad surveyor, coined the name. Local lore suggests that, before Texas's annexation by the US, lawlessness ruled in the area that at times was claimed by various nations.

In 1876, Texarkana, Texas, was granted a charter under an act of the Texas legislature, and a Texarkana, Texas, post office operated from 1886 to 1892. Later, Congressman John Morris Sheppard (D-TX) secured a postal order officially changing the name to "Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas".

The Texarkana metropolitan area was first defined in 1960. Then known as the Texarkana, TX–Texarkana, AR Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, it consisted of Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. In 1963, the area was renamed the Texarkana, TX–AR Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, only to return to its original name in 1971.


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